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Chelsea vs. LAFC score: Club World Cup result, highlights, stats as Blues begin with hard-fought victory

Chelsea shrugged off a spirited challenge from MLS side LAFC as they secured victory in their 2025 Club World Cup opener by a 2-0 scoreline in Atlanta on Monday.

In front of a glaringly sparse crowd at an NFL stadium thanks to the midweek afternoon kickoff, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez scored the goals, with the Blues receiving a spirited contribution from debutant Liam Delap off the bench.

Chelsea controlled the first half throughout, but found it difficult to break LAFC down. They secured the breakthrough past the half-hour mark as Pedro Neto put Ryan Hollingshead in a blender and finished expertly past an otherwise stout Hugo Lloris.

Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | Full match stats | Group D standings

After the break, LAFC provided a spirited response, but failed to capitalize on a number of chances. Denis Bouanga benefitted from Reece James’ halftime exit, but he and his teammates were stymied by Robert Sanchez on a number of occasions.

Ultimately, halftime substitute Fernandez solidified the Chelsea victory with his side’s second, finishing off a great cross from Delap for the former Ipswich Town striker’s first goal contribution since joining this summer.

Both these sides now look forward towards finishing off Group D play with games against Esperance de Tunis and Flamengo. For Chelsea, an opening match win puts the Premier League club in great position to lock down a knockout stage. LAFC, meanwhile, join fellow MLS side Seattle Sounders with an impressive opening day performance that ends in defeat.

The Sporting News followed the Chelsea vs. LAFC match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights.

Chelsea vs. LAFC final score

  Score Goal scorers
Chelsea 2 Neto (34′),
E. Fernandez (80′)
LAFC 0 —

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela Saez (VEN)

Starting lineups:

Chelsea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Sanchez (GK) — 24. James (Gusto, 46′), 4. Adarabioyo, 6. Colwill, 3. Cucurella — 25. Caicedo (Essugo, 84′), 45. Lavia (E. Fernandez, 46′) — 7. Neto, 10. Palmer (Nkunku, 84′), 11. Madueke (George, 64′) — 15. Jackson (Delap, 64′).

LAFC (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Lloris (GK) — 14. Palencia, 4. Segura, 33. Long, 24. Hollingshead — 8. Delgado (Marlon, 87′), 6. Jesus (Amaya, 81′), 11. T. Tillman (Yeboah, 87′) — 27. Ordaz (D. Martinez, 38′), 17. Ebobisse (Giroud, 46′), 99. Bouanga.

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Chelsea vs. LAFC stats

Chelsea Stat LAFC
17 Shots 7
6 Shots on target 4
1.96 Expected goals 0.82
65% Possession 35%
659 Accurate passes 328
7 Corners 1
11 Fouls 11
3 Yellow cards 2

Chelsea vs. LAFC live updates, highlights from Club World Cup

FULLTIME: Chelsea 2-0 LAFC

A solid performance from LAFC results in defeat as Chelsea flex their muscles to begin the Club World Cup! Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez did the business in front of goal, with contributions from Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Liam Delap.

Chelsea controlled must of the first half thanks to their impressive midfield, forcing LAFC to defend for long spells. LAFC were better after the break and offered a threat, but they failed to take their chances in the end and were punished for their wastefulness.

An enjoyable 90 minutes, but the expected result comes to pass as the Premier League side earns a key three points!

90+3 min: Chance, LAFC! Denis Bouanga goes down under a challenge from Marc Cucurella, and looks back at the Venezuelan referee, but he’s left frustrated as play continues! There was little in that, in truth, in LAFC’s last chance of the match.

90+2 min: Pedro Neto gets clotheslined by Sergi Palencia which results in a booking for the LAFC defender.

84th min: After the goal, LAFC brought Frankie Amaya off the bench into midfield in place of Igor Jesus.

Chelsea respond a few minutes later with a pair of their own, as Christopher Nkunku and Dario Essugo replacing Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo. It’s a pair of substitutes which indicate Enzo Maresca is happy with the scoreline and looking to protect his best players from further action.

80th min: GOAL! CHELSEA! THE BLUES ARE CLEAN THROUGH TO VICTORY AFTER LAFC’S MISSES!

Cole Palmer sends Liam Delap free down the right, and he lifts a cross perfectly to the front of goal where Enzo Fernandez is waiting with a perfectly timed run! The Argentine provides the finishing touch from point-blank range, with the debutant Delap on the assist!

LAFC have put forth a quality performance, but will surely have nothing to show for it now!

78th min: Chance, LAFC! Three chances for LAFC turned away! Denis Bouanga feeds a cross along the mouth of goal with nobody there, but the initial clearance is only turned as far as David Martinez near the top of the penalty area. His shot in space is blocked, but it falls to a teammate along the right edge whose shot misses across the face of goal!

Bouanga nearly reaches it at the far post, but his stretch is wide and the flag is up anyways.

75th min: The match has devolved a bit into a slugfest, as Marc Cucurella is booked for a hard foul on today’s adversary David Martinez. Those two have gone back-and-forth with physical play, and now both have earned the referee’s ire.

69th min: Liam Delap’s first real involvement is an impressive one, as he makes a great vertical run and turns his defender inside-out, but his cutback is barely cleared by Aaron Long before it can reach a teammate pouncing at the top of the six-yard box. So close to a huge chance for the Blues!

64th min: Liam Delap will make his Chelsea debut as he comes on to replace Nicolas Jackson, alongside Tyrique George who takes over for Noni Madueke. There’s a big ovation from he sparse Atlanta crowd for the new Chelsea signing.

59th min: David Martinez is booked for a foul on Marc Cucurella, who milks it while face-down for quite some time before eventually getting to his feet and continuing.

57th min: Chance, LAFC! Denis Bouanga forces a save out of Robert Sanchez! He turns Pedro Neto and has the goal gaping, but his low effort to the near post is turned away by an excellent kick-save from Sanchez!

54th min: Chance, Chelsea! Pedro Neto’s cross finds the head of Nicolas Jackson, who out-jumps his defender to power the ball on frame, but it’s blocked off the line by Timothy Tillman! The ball very nearly squirts into the back of the net off the LAFC defender, but instead skitters just wide! Lloris may have saved the chance off the Tillman deflection!

51st min: Chance, LAFC! The MLS club has its first real chance on goal as Robert Sanchez is troubled, but the shot from David Martinez from outside the top of the penalty area takes an unfortunate deflection off Olivier Giroud and goes out for a goal kick with the net untested!

Shortly after, Martinez is again fed through by Timothy Tillman in a good bit of space, but his shot from a tight angle is miserably bad and misses horribly.

2nd half kickoff: As they begin the second half, there’s two substitutions for Chelsea as Enzo Fernandez replaces Romeo Lavia in midfield, as the latter continues to work his fitness back to full strength after an injury-stricken season. They also see Malo Gusto come on for Reece James, who picked up a yellow card in the first 45 minutes.

The latter could be an opportunity for LAFC as James was largely solid through the opening half and helped keep the dangerous Denis Bouanga at bay.

Weirdly, Olivier Giroud looks ready to enter the match, but he does not have a jersey and things are delayed as he waits for one to arrive from the dressing room. This has upset the Chelsea coaching staff, as their players just wait around for the match to get back under way. Finally, a jersey arrives for the former France international and play can get restarted, with Giroud replacing Jeremy Ebobisse.

HALFTIME: Chelsea 1-0 LAFC

There’s a scuffle at the end of the half as someone wasn’t fond of a challenge right before the whistle blew! Pedro Neto and Reece James are in the thick of it, eventually pulled away after expressing their frustration.

All told, it’s been a competitive 45 minutes. Chelsea are deservingly in front as they capitalized on the lone LAFC error with a wonderful combination from Nicolas Jackson and Neto, but the MLS side has been in the match.

Unfortunately for the American club, they’ve been unable to transform their physical effort and strong defensive presence into chances on the other end. LAFC took just one shot through that first half of action, as they were repeatedly stymied by Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo. They need to open up a bit if they wish to find an equalizer, which as we know could leave them vulnerable to a more sizable deficit.

45th min: Tosin Adarabioyo is the second Chelsea player booked in this match after fouling Jeremy Ebobisse after Romeo Lavia gave it away in a bad area. Thanks to the location of the foul, coming as LAFC tried to break, the former Fulham defender can have no complaints about the yellow card.

37th min: The game is stopped after the referee notices that Nathan Ordaz is struggling with a head injury, and the LAFC medical staff begins evaluating the LAFC defender for a concussion. His body language is that of a player who may well be unable to continue, and he comes to the sideline to be checked further.

Ultimately, he’s replaced by David Martinez.

36th min: Reece James is booked for a hip check on Denis Bouanga that results in the first yellow card of the match from today’s Venezuelan referee.

34th min: GOAL! CHELSEA! PEDRO NETO OPENS THE SCORING! Nicolas Jackson sends the Portuguese international through down the right side with a wonderful vertical ball from deep in his own half, leaving Neto one-on-one with a single defender. A simple chop sends Ryan Hollingshead flying by, opening up the space to shoot.

One touch onto his left also wrong-foots a trailing defender, and he slots the ball cleanly past Hugo Lloris inside the near post. A fine finish!

A replay minutes later from the semi-automated VAR shows that Jackson’s pass found Neto onside by just a hair. A wonderful move!

24th min: Moises Caicedo is whistled for a foul which he does not agree with, scything down Denis Bouanga to the turf to give LAFC a dangerous free-kick. Whether Caicedo’s upset about that call or another further down the pitch is unclear, but he gives the referee an earful, and gets one back as well.

The free-kick is wasted as Robert Sanchez collects the delivery, but Caicedo will have to be careful now after catching the referee’s ire.

20th min: Chance, Chelsea! Cole Palmer comes VERY close to sniping the top-left corner! There’s a slight deflection on the shot off an LAFC defender, and the effort sails just inches over the crossbar. So close for Chelsea again!

17th min: Chance, Chelsea! A HUGE SAVE BY HUGO LLORIS! Chelsea appear in as Noni Madueke gets vertical to find himself by Sergi Palencia down the left, and his tight-angle shot has space to find the open spaces on net, but Lloris makes an exceptional stop to turn Madueke’s attempt away, and he stops Cole Palmer’s follow-up as well.

15th min: LAFC have largely done well defensively to keep Chelsea at bay, but Cole Palmer is beginning to pull the strings for the Premier League club and find openings. LAFC cannot switch off for a single second or else they will be punished.

12th min: There’s a slight delay in the match as the referee goes to the touchline to get some help with his equipment. They’re back under way after just a few seconds of stoppage.

5th min: Chance, Chelsea! The Premier League side has already established itself as the dominant side in this match, and Nicolas Jackson stings the palms of Hugo Lloris with a powerful turn on the ball. While under pressure, starting with his back to goal, he’s able to rotate his off-balance body to whip a good effort on goal that’s strong but too central and easily held by the LAFC goalkeeper. 

Kickoff: They’re under way at Mercedes-Benz Stadium! The reigning Conference League title winners prepare for a season of Champions League play, but they also have their eyes set on a deep Club World Cup run as well!

Chelsea vs. LAFC: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: Matchday attendance has been a major talking point early in the Club World Cup, as games struggle to sell fans on the idea of a 3 p.m. midweek game. Even in a football-joyous city like Atlanta, with a marquee stadium and a Premier League club, it appears the effort to sell tickets has been a significant issue for FIFA. The images from Mercedes-Benz Stadium are ugly with just 15 minutes to go before the match begins.

30 mins to kickoff: There’s been plenty of talk about squad numbers at Chelsea this summer, especially the No. 9 shirt which Liam Delap has inherited, but there’s also a change debuting in this match. Cole Palmer will wear the No. 10 shirt for the first time, switching from the No. 20 he’s been wearing since joining the club.

45 mins to kickoff: The Mercedes-Benz retractable roof is closed today, given that it’s a boiling 86 degrees Fahrenheit in Atlanta today. That’s likely to be the case for most of the venue’s matches this summer in the Club World Cup.

1 hour to kickoff: Lineups are in! Both teams have deployed a very strong XI, with Enzo Maresca deploying his most consistent defenders. The only surprise for Chelsea is the presence of Romeo Lavia in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, with Enzo Fernandez amongst the substitutes to begin..

For LAFC, Hugo Lloris starts in goal, while Olivier Giroud begins on the bench as expected.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: Today’s venue, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, is one of the best new venues in the United States. A truly fantastic place to watch a football match.

It’s notable that LAFC, while technically in their home country, have had to trek such a significant distance for this game. It is widespread knowledge throughout U.S. sports that cross-country travel does affect a team’s performance. For example, in the NFL, performance of east coast teams who go west for games in places such as California don’t perform as well on the whole.

1 hour 30 mins to kick: Former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, now 38 years old, is not a regular starter for LAFC, but he could make an impact off the bench if the MLS side manages to keep it close through the first 60 minutes of the match. The now-retired France international says he’ll enjoy seeing people and players he’s familiar with as he faces his old London club.

He has just one goal in 16 career games against Chelsea, one of his worst records against any opponent.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Chelsea may be only getting their Club World Cup started, but the wheeling and dealing never stops for the Blues. They’ve reportedly made contact with Lyon regarding 20-year-old winger Malick Fofana, who scored five goals and assisted four others in 29 league games last season. It was in Europe where he truly made his mark, bagging six goals and two assists in 10 Europa League matches.

With Jadon Sancho sent back to Manchester United, they are searching for an impact winger to avoid relying on aging Pedro Neto for much longer opposite the influential Noni Madueke.

2 hours to kickoff: An interesting storyline for this summer will be if new Chelsea striker Liam Delap can make a mark as he looks to win the starting job ahead of next season. The Blues splashed for the Ipswich Town star despite the fact they’ve backed Nicolas Jackson for the job through his struggles and hot streaks.

Enzo Maresca, who was Delap’s head coach when he was with the Manchester City youth team, has refused to confirm whether the new signing will start at all this summer or not, but he did back Delap to eventually win the starting striker role with England.

Chelsea s. LAFC kick off time

This Club World Cup match kicks off from Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday, June 16 at 3 p.m. local time in Atlanta, GA. Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

  Date Kickoff time
USA/Canada Mon, Jun. 16 3 p.m. ET
USA/Canada Mon, Jun. 16 12 p.m. PT
UK Mon, Jun. 16 8 p.m. BST
Australia Tue, Jun. 17 5 a.m. AEST
India Tue, Jun. 17 12:30 a.m. IST

Club World Cup Group D standings

Pos. Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Chelsea 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
2. Esperance de Tunis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Flamengo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. LAFC 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0

Chelsea vs. LAFC lineups, team news

Without knowing how much Maresca will look to rotate his squad — if at all — it was tough to predict who will get the start, especially with Chelsea sporting such an uncertain pecking order on a week-to-week basis. However today, Maresca has gone with almost his entire best XI, with one exception — Romeo Lavia starts in midfield, while Enzo Fernandez begins on the bench.

New signings Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, Mike Penders, and Mamadou Sarr are all in the travelling party. Delap is likely to be given a chance to impress at some point in this competition, but Nicolas Jackson starts up front today. Those fresh off international duty were candidates for rest, but Noni Madueke and Marc Cucurella start the match, while the aforementioned Fernandez is given at least the first hour off after trans-Atlantic travel.

Chelsea left returning loanees Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, Ben Chilwell, Djordje Petrovic, Axel Disasi, and Renato Veiga at home rather than re-integrate them into the squad, although Andrey Santos does appear on the list after making his way back from French side Strasbourg. Omari Kellyman and Wesley Fofana are not with the group as they recover from long-term injuries.

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Sanchez (GK) — James, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Cucurella — Caicedo, Lavia — Neto, Palmer, Madueke — Jackson.

Chelsea subs: Jorgensen (GK), Anselmino, Badiashile, Acheampong, Gusto, Sarr, Chalobah, Santos, Essugo, E. Fernandez, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Nkunku, Delap, Guiu.

Knowing they are likely not long for this competition given their exceedingly difficult draw, LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo has deployed his best players in the hopes of springing an unlikely upset, with the knowledge that if they do see themselves eliminated, it won’t have put a massive strain on the squad from a long-term perspective.

World Cup winner Hugo Lloris is the team’s starting goalkeeper, while his French counterpart and former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has largely come off the bench as he navigates the twilight of his career at 38 years old.

LAFC revamped their roster this offseason in a big way, shedding longtime veterans Carlos Vela, Ilie Sanchez, Mateusz Bogusz, Cristian Olivera, and Jesus Murillo while ushering in new faces like Igor Jesus, Mark Delgado (from rivals LA Galaxy in a rare derby swap), Marlon, Yaw Yeboah, Frankie Amaya, and Jeremy Ebobisse.

LAFC starting lineup (4-3-3): Lloris (GK) — Palencia, Segura, Long, Hollingshead — Delgado, Jesus, T. Tillman — Ordaz, Ebobisse, Bouanga.

LAFC subs: Ochoa (GK), Hasal (GK), Marlon, Chanot, Tafari, Saldana, Amaya, Holm, Raposo, Wibowo, D. Martinez, Yeboah, Giroud.

Chelsea vs. LAFC live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:

  TV channel Streaming
USA TBS, truTV, TUDN, UniMas DAZN, Sling, Fubo USA, TUDN app, Univision NOW
Canada  — DAZN
UK Channel 5 DAZN
Australia  — DAZN, Kayo Sports, Foxtel Now
India  — DAZN, tabii

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